


Holidays with you

by Artfulstar



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Friends, Christmas fic, F/M, Light Angst, Winter, enjoy it lovelies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28280454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artfulstar/pseuds/Artfulstar
Summary: As Callum comes back to his birth town for the holidays, he discovers his childhood friend is being rather cold towards him. Did the friendship they had just fall over the years or is there something more she's hiding?
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	Holidays with you

Callum was nervous, to say the least. It had been years since he had left his home town. He was barely an adult when it happened. All the holidays, he either spent it alone or his parents traveled to see him. This year though. It was his turn.

As he grabbed his baggage from the drop-off point, he turned to his phone in his hand. He hadn’t missed a lot when he was on his 5-hour flight. The last message he had received was from his mother who said that they were waiting for him on the other side.

He smiled and sent a thumbs-up emoji and a heart to her, quickly followed by his response, saying that he was just done with grabbing his bag and he was heading out in a minute or two.

He looked outside the windows and he saw the snow falling, clearly indicating the cold outside and why his flight had been delayed for a few hours.

Zipping up his jacket and tidying his red scarf, he grabbed his bag and turned to the exit, anxious but more than that, excited. Excited to see his family and his old town after so long.

He waited a bit for the crowd that was also leaving the arrival area to dissipate and walked through the gate. He stopped in front of the crowd, looking for his parents and brother.

It didn’t take long. When he finally spotted his parents, he opened a big smile and waved his hand, trying to get their attention, which worked for the way their faces shined bright when they noticed him.

He got past the small barrier in front of him and ran towards his mom, who received him with open arms and a lot of kisses on the top of his head. She released him, letting Harrow take him into another hug, that was way stronger and tight, but still full of emotion.

At last, Callum turned to Ezran, who in the last year had grown quite a bit, almost reaching Callum’s height.

With the final hug from Ezran, Callum felt his heart burst and he had to retain a few tears from spilling.

“How was the flight?” Sarai asked, smoothing his hair like she always did when he was growing up.

“It was nice,” Callum said, getting his hand on the handle of his luggage, “I couldn’t sleep since there was a baby behind me crying, but otherwise it was pretty calm.”

“That’s good to hear,” she smiled, “but when you get home, you can get your deserved sleep before anything else. Ezran can maybe show you some of the holiday attractions the town has put up.”

Callum turned to Ezran, who smiled widely and nodded excitedly before speaking up “And when you get home, you can see Bait again! He’s very happy that you decided to come here and celebrate with us.”

Callum laughed before ruffling his brother’s fluffy hair with his hand, “Well, I don’t quite remember Bait being that happy seeing me last year, but I trust you.”

The family laughed together before heading towards the parking of the airport. As Callum put his baggage inside the trunk of the car, Ezran leaned against the door for one of the passager seats.

“If you want, we could start with visiting someone.” His brother said, a slight smirk on his face.

_“Who?”_

* * *

Callum stared in disbelief as he recognized the house right in front of his old house. The blue and greens of the walls had been recently repainted and the roof was covered with snow. But more than that, he stared in disbelief at the person standing in the front yard.

Her white hair made her almost blend with the snow on the floor as she struggled to make a snowman in the front yard. Her rosy skin was slightly redder due to the cold weather, accentuating the small freckles on her cheeks and nose. Her lilac eyes were the same shade as always, reminding him of the time he swore he could drown in them for hours and hours.

“Hey, Rayla!” Ezran shouted from the other side of the street, immediately claiming her attention.

For a second, Callum didn’t know what to do. It had been years since he and Rayla had spoken to each other. They used to be the best of friends in high school, how much had things changed in the past years?

Of course, he had no time to think about that. Rayla was now staring directly at him. She was confused for a few moments and Callum thought that she wouldn’t recognize him after all, but her expression changed completely from one of confusion to one of realization. But not a good one. Rayla didn’t have a smile on her face as she recognized one of the best friends of her childhood. She seemed almost… apprehensive.

Ezran didn’t seem to pick up on that as he called her name again, clearly asking for her to cross the street and meet them on the other side.

But when Rayla didn’t do as such, Ezran stopped and grabbed Callum’s hand, dragging him across the street. When they were finally on the same street, Callum felt even more self-conscious. What was a good conversation starter for seeing your high school friend after so many years?

“Rayla,” Ezran turned to her, “you remember Callum, right?” She was silent for a few moments before smiling shyly to both of them and tucking a strand of her hair behind her ears.

“O-Of course I do, Ez.” she said before looking into Callum’s direction awkwardly, “It’s… good to see you, after all these years.”

“Same, Ray-” he realized the nickname almost slipping before correcting himself, “Rayla.”

The air felt awkward and Callum couldn’t help but notice that Rayla kept avoiding looking at him, sometimes looking at anything other than him. Ezran seemed to notice this, for the way he cleared his throat and tried to lighten the mood.

“So, Callum is spending the holidays and new year with us, Rayla.”

“Oh, really?” She asked, in an almost sarcastic tone followed by her eyes narrowing, “I thought he would never come back to this town after he left.” Her voice had soured quickly, making Callum feel even more embarrassed.

“Well, so did we, but after he graduated this summer, things changed.” Ezran tried to explain, hoping things wouldn’t get more awkward.

“Well in that case,” she said, getting up from the snowy ground and getting rid of the snow attached to her leggings, “I hope you have a fantastic holiday season.” She said in a slight cheery tone and a tight smile before she turned and went back inside the house, not bothering to say anything else.

Callum’s eyes widened at her reaction and he was speechless. He thought things would be awkward, not that Rayla would be angry and resentful towards him.

“Wow…” Ezran said, his eyes wide too, “what happened between you two?”

“I… I have no idea.”

* * *

Christmas Market was part of Rayla’s childhood. She loved going there and buying gifts for her family. And if she was with someone else? The day would be even more special. But today, she was alone, which wasn’t that much of an issue, of course.

Rayla knew she didn’t want to take too much of her time shopping, since she still wanted to get home before it was night time for dinner.

As she traveled through the small shops, carefully looking at the items, deciding quickly if that would be a good present for someone. She ended up buying two bathrobes for Runaan and Ethari since she knew that Ethari was going to gift Runaan with a spa day next month for their wedding anniversary. She smiled as the worker in the shop folded the robes and wrapped them, but she still needed something for her parents. Her dad was easy to please and his recent obsession with self-help books was a good start.

Rayla’s eyes scanned the area and she saw some stores ahead of her some bookshelves and piles of books under a tent covered in snow. She felt smug for finding it so quickly and walked towards it.

Once she was under the tent, she stared at some bookshelves and piles on tables around her, hoping to see any indication where the self-help books would be. Finding none of those things, she decided to do the manual way, starting with the ones on the tables

As she looked at the covers of the books on the tables, she saw many genres, fiction, non-fiction, action, romance, and some holiday-related books as usual, but not what she was looking for.

Finding no success in the tables, she decided to delve into the bookshelves, and once again, she struggled to find anything related. That is until she looked at the last section of one of them and quickly recognized the name of one of the books her father read recently.

With a big smile, she went to grab it from the shelf to have a confirmation, but someone grabbed the book from the other side of the shelf first.

She looked at who it was and her eyes widened.

Callum was on the other side of the shelf, examining the book on his hands with clear curiosity. Rayla gulped and tried to turn and leave before Callum would notice her. But Callum looked up faster than she thought he would.

“Oh, Rayla!” He said a small but unsure smile on his face. She swore mentally as he made his way towards her. She tried to calm her nerves.

“Hey, Callum.” She tried the most polite tone she had towards him.

“So, you buying some holiday gifts?”

“That’s what someone in a Christmas Market usually does.” She rolled her eyes in annoyance before noticing Callum’s expression. He was avoiding looking at her and his unsure smile had disappeared, being replaced by a grimace as he rubbed the back of his neck. Rayla took a deep breath, “sorry. This week has been… stressing. I shouldn’t be taking it out on you.”

“It’s fine. I admit it was a very stupid question anyway,” he laughed and looked in her direction. His laughter was enough for Rayla to smile back at him, “Do you… want any help finding what gifts you want?”

“No need, I just need to find a gift for my dad and my mom, and I’m done. What about you? Buying some gifts too?”

“No, I already got done with those yesterday. I’m just here to find a book for myself.” He explained and put the book he got from the shelf a few minutes ago back on his spot. Rayla nodded and turned her back to him so she could find what she was looking for.

After a few minutes, she recognized the name of a book her father had mentioned to her a few days ago and grabbed it before walking towards the cashier.

It didn’t take long for her to turn on the waiting line and as quickly as she could, she paid for her book and the wrapping of it. She put the gift inside her bag and turned to leave, but just as she was getting out, Callum caught up to her. He was standing beside her for a few moments, not saying anything.

“So?” she asked, hopefully breaking the ice between them.

“So what?”

“Did you find your book?” She said and Callum flushed in embarrassment.

“No, I didn’t. There were still some books I could’ve looked but…” once again, he scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact.

“But…?”

“I wanted to spend-”

“Rayla dear!” his sentence was cut by a very soft voice that Rayla immediately recognized. She turned in the direction of the voice and an old lady she recognized was walking towards her. Rayla immediately opened a smile and walked to meet her half-way.

“Hello Mrs. Rannels,” Rayla greeted the woman politely, “here to buy a gift for your grandchildren?”

“Oh no! I already took care of that, I just got bored of sitting in my old living room for the rest of the day.” Rayla giggled before she noticed from the corner of her eye Callum approaching them, “Oh, and who’s this young man, Rayla?”

“This is Callum,” Rayla said, turning to look at him, “he’s the son of two of my neighbors and he’s here to spend the holidays with them. Callum, this is Mrs. Angie Rannels. She works with my mom and has been a family friend for years.”

“Good evening, ma’am,” Callum said, offering his hand and a small smile. The woman took his hand and shook it lightly.

“So besides being very handsome, he’s polite too?” The woman laughed and Rayla noticed how Callum flushed deep red at her words. Rayla had to suppress a giggle at the sight.

“I- uh… thank you. I appreciate it.” Rayla couldn’t do it anymore and she let some of her giggling escape, making Callum look at her with an even more flushed face.

“Sorry, sorry. I-I’ll stop.” She said, clearly not making an effort to stop her laughter. Callum only smiled at her shook his head.

“You know,” Mrs. Rannels started, “when your mother told me that you would get through your break up fast, I didn’t know it would be that fast.”

Those words made Rayla stop on her tracks and look at the old woman.

“What?”

“I said it already, he’s handsome and polite. There are not many men like that in today’s world.” It took a few moments for Rayla to process what she had meant but when she did, her entire face flushed red just like Callum’s had a few moments ago.

“Mrs. Rannels, me and Callum aren’t together. He’s just…” she struggled to find the words, “a close acquaintance.”

The elder woman’s face dawned in realization, “Oh, I apologize. It just seemed that way.”

“I-it’s not,” Callum said, his face somehow even redder than before, “as Rayla said, we’re just… close acquaintances.”

“If you say so.” The woman shrugged her shoulders before looking at her wristwatch, “Well, I need to get home. Have a good holiday, you two.”

As she went away, Rayla decided to look at anything but Callum, which was good since he decided to do the same thing.

“So… that was awkward.” Callum tried.

“Y-Yeah, I agree.” Rayla said as she put a strand of her hair behind her ear, “Sorry for that. I’m talking to my mom about her telling people about my relationships.” She laughed awkwardly.

“So, it’s true?”

“That I recently got dumped? Aye.” She admitted, shrugging her shoulders, “It was real bad, but I’m glad I’m not that depressed about it like I was for the first week.”

“What happened exactly? If you don’t mind telling me, obviously!”

“I guess it’s fine, it’s not like you know them, anyway.” She took a deep breath and sat on a wooden bench, gathering her thoughts, “I met my ex when he here on vacation. We started our relationship knowing that we would have to continue it over the internet, so we did. A month or so ago, he told me he wanted to introduce me to his family this holiday season. I told him that I couldn’t do it because of something he already knew about. He ghosted me for a few days and when I least expected it, he broke up with me over texts, saying that I didn’t care about our relationship like he did. I didn’t even have a say in all of that, so I got really mad and depressed for the first week or two after this.” She looked in Callum’s direction, a weak smile on her lips, “that’s my sob story, what’s yours?”

He smiled awkwardly and sat beside her on the bench.

“It’s not a sob story, but do you remember Claudia?” Rayla nodded, “Well, when I was in college, she and I dated for a couple of months. But we broke up because she told me that it wasn’t right for her to date me while she had doubts about liking men. I fully supported her on the path she took and she came out to everyone that same year as a lesbian.”

“I’m glad that she’s finally living her life without the chains of having to lie to everyone.” Rayla said.

“Yeah me too. As I said, it’s not a sob story. Not like yours at least. Your ex was truly a jerk.”

Rayla laughed, “Aye, he was.”

Before they could continue their talk, Rayla and Callum heard a ringtone. Immediately she patted her bag, looking for her phone.

“Is it yours?” she asked as Callum looked for his inside his coat pockets. Surely enough, the device was glowing and Rayla quickly read _“Dad”_ on the screen.

Rayla watched as Callum got up from the bench and walked a few feet away so he could answer it. A minute or two went by before Callum put his phone down and walked towards Rayla.

“Well, I need to go home to help my parents for our holiday party this weekend.”

“Oh yeah, I always go to your parent’s house for their party.”

“Oh? So, I guess I’ll see you there?” Callum asked and Rayla shrugged her shoulders.

“I mean, maybe? I need to pack some things at home so no idea how long I’ll be able to stay.” She explained and Callum nodded.

“Hopefully I’ll see you there, then,” he said, getting his bag from near the bench and waving his hand to Rayla before he turned and disappeared into the sea of people and stores.

* * *

Rayla hadn’t been at the party for more than two hours before she ran into a new problem.

As the night feel, Ezran asked her for a favor.

“Can you get some Christmas lights in the garage?” the boy asked and Rayla nodded, setting her cup with her alcoholic punch on the table. It was supposed to be a simple task. Get the lights in a box with the name “lights” written in it and give it to Ezran.

She did find the box in the garage but as she dug around, trying to untangle them, she heard the door of the garage open and close with a hard thud. The badly lit space made it hard for Rayla to identify who had just entered it but once her eyes adjusted to the lack of lights, she knew instantly who it was.

“Callum?” she asked and he seemed to be caught off guard by it.

“Rayla?” she saw the way he squinted his eyes to possibly see her better, “Is that you?”

“Aye.”

“What are you doing down here?”

“Doing a favor for your brother. He asked me to get some lights.” She explained, turning her back to him and going back to her task.

“I’ll just be taking some ice for the punch.” Rayla nodded and hummed, taking her time untangling the wires. She heard him open a box, probably a cooler on a side that she couldn’t see. She heard his footsteps going in the direction of the door but what she didn’t expect was that she didn’t hear the door opening.

She looked in his direction and saw that he was trying really hard to open the door, the bag of ice on the floor beside him.

“Callum, do you need any help with that?” she asked and shyly, he nodded.

Rayla rolled her eyes in amusement and let go of the lights.

She tried pulling the door to open, but it didn’t budge. She tried pushing it, but it still didn’t open. She looked at Callum who was on her side, looking wide-eyed at the door, before she saw realization dawn on his face.

“Ah, shit.” He said and Rayla raised an eyebrow to him.

“What happened to the door?”

“My mom told me about this. Sometimes, if you close it real hard, it will budge from this side and it won’t open unless someone on the other side tries to open,” Rayla was about to groan but she looked at the garage door. She was about to say something, but Callum interrupted her, “The door is locked for the party and we don’t have any spare keys laying around here.”

“You have your phone?” She asked.

“No, left it in my room charging. What about you?”

“I probably left it on the table I was sitting on before coming here.” This time, she groaned real hard and decided to bang on the door loudly.

“HEY! WE’RE STUCK! PLEASE OPEN!” she screamed but the loud music on the other side meant that there was no way someone would hear them unless they were standing really close to it. With all the strength she could muster, Rayla banged her fist on the wooden door and felt shock waves running through her fist.

She shouted in pain, making Callum look at her.

“Fuck!” she cursed, biting her lip and looking at her fist while she sat on the floor. Before she could do anything, Callum sat by her side and grabbed her hand, and brought it near his face to examine. Rayla flushed as Callum got a cube of ice inside the bag and took a handkerchief from his pocket. He wrapped the ice within the cloth and held it in her hand.

“Is it relieving the pain?” he asked and Rayla nodded, not sure if she would be able to form a sentence while her hand throbbed.

Two minutes went by and Callum took the ice off her skin.

“Thank you.” Rayla felt her cheeks heat up and Callum smiled up at her.

“No worries, I couldn’t just leave you in pain.” He said while he got up from the floor and grabbed the ice bag, walking slowly towards the cooler she could now see and dumping it inside. “I think this means we’re staying here for a while, huh?”

“Aye.” She buried her face on the sleeve of her purple and white sweater.

“I’m sure it won’t take them _too_ long to notice we disappeared,” Callum said as he came back and sat by her side once again, resting his back against the wooden door.

The silence between them was… awkward at best. None of them had any idea how to break it and quickly things were starting to become boring.

“Rayla,” Callum spoke up after minutes of silence, “can I ask you a question?” she nodded, “the day I arrived, after I saw you with Ezran, he asked me if something had happened between us during the years that I was away,” She raised her brows in surprise, “I honestly didn’t know. But then you told me that your life has been really stressful and I’m not sure if you were just in a bad mood that day or that it had something to do with me. If you’re willing to answer, of course”

“Is… that your question?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Rayla sighed and unburied her face from her sleeve.

“Well, if I am being completely honest and clear… _it did have something to do with you._ ” She said, her tone harsh as she looked at him, both of her eyebrows furrowed.

“Wh-”

“Callum, how do you expect me to be okay with you after you ghosted me for literal years?!” she shouted, “I thought we agreed that we would exchange letters with each other after you left.”

“But we did-”

“For what? Six months of the last 4 years?!” Callum was about to say something, but he closed his mouth, “Every time I wrote you a letter, I made sure it was filled with emotion and I made sure to tell you everything that was happening in my life, to somehow trick me into thinking that you were still here. All of my letters were personal, but the one I sent you and that you never wrote back, was by far the most important one!” She could feel the tears coming, “Do you have any idea how it felt to me? To know you still cared about me after we went months without seeing each other and suddenly, never hearing from you again. I-I had no idea what I had done wrong and I couldn’t bring myself send you another letter asking what happened.”

Callum was silent for moments before he sighed deeply, “Rayla… I’m sorry. I-I didn’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed once more, “The day I received your last letter, I was running late for a class. I intended to read it and write back, but I left it in my dorm room near an open window. When I got back, your letter was long gone with the wind. I feel ashamed for letting that happen.” His voice was starting to shake, “I didn’t have the guts to write back to you, saying what happened. I was afraid you’d judge me for being so reckless and stupid because I knew that your letters were extremely personal. So I… never wrote back. I didn’t know this would affect you like that. If I did, I swear I would have written back even if you judged me.”

Rayla stared at him, her mouth slightly agape and her eyes still watery.

“I… I think we’re both anxious idiots.” She admitted, looking at him and smiling. That was enough to make Callum smile back.

“Yeah, thought so too.” They both laughed in unison before falling into another silent moment, though it was way less heavy than the previous one.

“How long has it been since we’ve been locked here?” she asked, looking at Callum’s wristwatch.

“20 minutes or so.” He said and Rayla’s eyes widened.

“It doesn’t seem like it. I guess I forgot how good of a company you are,” she said, smiling at him.

“I can say the same to you, but I could never forget that,” he said and Rayla couldn’t help but feel skin heat.

She looked at him who was smiling too, his cheeks also a bit tinged.

For a moment, they were quiet, just… looking at each other. His emerald green eyes looking into her violet ones, small smiles on their face. In the quiet garage, she could hear her heart pounding against her chest and for a moment, she wondered if Callum could hear it too.

She slowly raised her hand and brushed a lock of hair from his face and giggled at the way his eyes widened and his cheeks get considerably redder.

“Rayla?” He whispered her name.

“Callum?” She whispered his back. And the silence settled once more. Rayla slowly lowered her hand, intending to take it away from his face, but he pulled it back so it could rest on his cheek. She felt her heart melt and she took her eyes away from his eye and lowered them ever so slightly so she could look at his lips. Callum seemed to notice by the way he smiled and did the same to her.

When their eyes finally met again, it didn’t take more than just a few seconds so their lips would clash halfway. Rayla sighed into the kiss, feeling her heart burst into millions of sparks. She closed her eyes as she felt Callum kissing her back. She felt his hand caressing her hand, right where she had hurt it several minutes ago, while the other held onto her waist, bringing her closer.

It was… blissful. Almost too good to be true.

Though her senses were redirected to what was happening right here, she could hear someone on the other side of the door.

The sound of someone trying to unlock the stuck door made Rayla get her mind out of the gutter.

She pushed Callum away, her eyes widened. Callum was about to protest when he also hear someone trying to unlock the door.

They stood there, sitting a couple of feet apart than they were just seconds ago, their skins matching the wine of the party.

Some moments later, the door swung open and Rayla had to avoid getting hit by it.

Ezran was looking inside before he saw first Callum and then Rayla on the other side of the door.

“Oh, this where you two have been! I was asking myself where the ice and decorations were!”

Rayla wasn’t able to manage any sentences as she hid her face inside of her sweater.

The sound of the blood pumping to her face was enough to muffle to conversation Callum and Ezran were having. What had just happened was running through her mind.

She doesn’t know how long this lasted, but she felt the door beside her close and a hand on her shoulder.

She shyly lowered her sweater and saw Callum looking in her direction, a grimace on his face.

“Uh… Sorry about that.”

“For… the kiss?” She tilted her head, in confusion.

“Y-Yeah. I got carried away and-” Rayla’s brain started working properly. _He thought this was a mistake. This shouldn’t have happened. This should’ve never happened._

Rayla felt some tears stinging and she wiped them on her sleeve. She heard him stop his rambling as Rayla sighed deeply.

“I-I get it, then.” She cleaned her throat and got up from the floor, “I gotta go home.” She said, not bothering to look in his direction, “I guess I’ll see you around. Or not.”

She opened the door and stepped into the corridor, not listening to Callum calling her name.

**Author's Note:**

> I actually plan on writing a second part, but I have no idea what to put it in, so if you do have something for this, hit me up in any of my socials and I'll do my best to include it in the story! Also don't forget that [criticism](https://artfulstar.tumblr.com/post/635356402382225408/for-the-lastest-afterhours-chapter-you-asked-for) is always welcome and it helps me improve! I'm currently on winter break from the 24th to January 3rd (my birthday), which probably means that the second part (if there's one) will come out on my birthday if I manage to survive that day.  
> Thank you for reading this, I didn't want to let my anniversary of one year writing in English and for this fandom pass without ceremony so this is the best I could come up with and hopefully, it's enough for y'all who've been reading my stuff ever since the end of 2019 (which the chances are extremely low). This year was absolute pain for me for hundreds of reasons and I'm proud to say that writing fanfic and my friends on this fandom made my life easier and made me not want to give up on everything on the hardest year of my life. Thank you for being with me during this extremely harsh year, even if you never commented on me or interacted with me anywhere. Your hit or your kudos on any of my stories helped me know that I was doing something right in a year where I had no idea if I would wake up the next morning. I hope you enjoy your holiday week and new years. Once again, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.  
> ✭ [My main Tumblr!](https://artfulstar.tumblr.com/)  
> ✭ [My TDP sideblog!](https://xadiasecrets.tumblr.com/)  
> ✭ [My ko-fi! I have writing commissions open!](https://ko-fi.com/artfulstar)  
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